Today (Friday 10 January) the Home Office is introducing
legislation that will shake up how complaints made against
the police are handled and improve the discipline system
for officers.
The changes, which will come into effect on 1 February,
ensure that complaints can be dealt with quickly,
effectively and proportionately, not just for the benefit
of the public but also for the police.
As well as simplifying the complaints system, the changes
mean Police and Crime Commissioners will have a greater
role to increase independence and improve complaints
handling.
Policing and Crime Minister said:
The vast majority of our brilliant police are extremely
professional, and standards remain high.
When police forces fall short of these standards, it is
important to have a system that can quickly establish
what has gone wrong, hold officers to account where
necessary and ensure lessons are learned.
These reforms will deliver this and ensure the public can
maintain confidence in the integrity of our world-class
police.
The reforms will also deliver a more efficient system for
dealing with police misconduct, making the investigation
processes simpler and therefore quicker, including a
requirement to provide an explanation where investigations
take longer than 12 months.
Importantly, the reforms aim to make the discipline system
more proportionate and encourage a much greater emphasis on
learning from mistakes.
National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for complaints and
misconduct, Chief Constable Craig Guildford, said:
We have listened very carefully to the views of officers,
the public and everyone involved in the complaints
process throughout this work. This package addresses the
valid concerns over timeliness, accountability and
proportionality and puts the focus on learning,
reflection and fairness.
These reforms are aimed at all levels across the police
service and have come together after work with the Home
Office, Police Federation, the IOPC and the
Superintendents Association. There will be greater
involvement for local supervisors and a move away from
punishment and blame for lower level misconduct to a
focus on learning and development.
The huge majority of police officers serve the public to
the highest standard. Society rightly expects the service
to act with honesty and integrity and any instance of
gross misconduct falling below that standard will
continue to be dealt with robustly.
The Home Office has worked closely with the National Police
Chiefs’ Council (NPCC), the Independent Office for Police
Conduct (IOPC), the Association of Police and Crime
Commissioners (APCC), staff associations and others to
develop a comprehensive package of improvements. These
include:
- simplifying the complaints system, making it easier to
navigate and putting a greater emphasis on handling
complaints in a reasonable and proportionate manner. An
enhanced role for Police and Crime Commissioners will
strengthen independence
- further measures to increase the IOPC’s effectiveness
and independence in investigating all serious and sensitive
matters involving the police
- focusing the formal discipline system on breaches of
professional standards that would result in formal
disciplinary action, enabling line managers to focus on
improving individual learning and behaviours in response to
lower level conduct matters – based on a new Reflective
Practice Review Process
- there are new provisions to improve the efficiency and
transparency of misconduct investigations
- increasing the transparency of appeals against
misconduct findings by replacing the current retired police
officer as a member of the panel with an independent
layperson and introducing new provisions to improve the
timeliness and efficiency of proceedings
The College of Policing, as the professional body for the
police in England and Wales, has developed training for all
officers, HR teams and professional standards departments
to support the service in implementing the reforms.
